Puppies Sitting In A Wagon

     There is no escaping the "ad clutter", not anymore. As a society, as a culture, we have moved to a place of constant connection. With smart phones, tablet computers, and other new technology we can be reached anywhere, anytime. This means advertisers can reach us at all times as well. New tech joins a long list of old techniques companies have used to sell us things we don't need. As I sit in my room, there are not too many ads to be counted, just a few shoe logos and the like. Oh, wait! What's this? A computer and a television set, you say? Through the Interweb and cable television, we invite advertisements into our homes. Want to watch the local news? Well, here are seven ads for things to make you beautiful. Want to reach a website with information about your favorite European sporting club? Well, here are six ads for products to make you fit in. You can't even watch a Youtube clip without being forced to sit through the covertly racist and sexist ads from corporate America. No one is safe. This is where we come to the puppies and their wagon.

 They may look safe in there, but advertisers are going after your dog next, since humans have learned to ignore the "ad clutter" the best they can. Beneful, the dog food company, has designed an ad aimed directly at Fido. It uses high pitched tones only dogs can hear. You see Spot flipping out when the commercial comes on, assume he/she wants the Beneful, and buy it without thinking. All of this is a step on the road to a company's ultimate goal. They want "loyalty without thinking", as we saw in the video shown in class. Shocking. They use studies of cult behavior to improve their techniques. Even more shocking and hard to stomach.
     What is the end-point here? Does power ever swing back to the consumer/citizen? Will anything be done to stop this war on the public? No, probably not. Not as long as people continue to buy in a zombie-like trance. Not as long as we allow Facebook, Google, and thousands of other entities to collect, sell and distribute our personal information as they see fit. Then they spit it back at us in the form of ads for the latest hip products. There is no escaping the "add clutter", not anymore.